title: The effects of levetiracetam on neural tube development in the early stage of chick embryos.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the effects of a new generation antiepileptic agent, levetiracetam, on the neural tube development in a chick embryo model that corresponds to the first month of vertebral development in mammals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five Atabey® breed fertilized chicken eggs with no specific pathogens were randomly divided into 5 groups. All of the eggs were incubated at 37.8±2°C and 60±5 % relative humidity in an incubator. Group A was control group. The other eggs were applied physiological saline and drugs at a volume of 10 μL by the in ovo method at the 28th hour of the incubation period. Group B was given distilled water; Group C, physiological saline; Group D, Levetiracetam (L8668) at a dose equivalent to the treatment dose for humans (10 mg/ kg), and Group E, Levetiracetam (L8668) at a dose of 10 times the treatment dose. The embryos in all of the groups were removed from the shells at the 48th hour and morphologically and histologically evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 45 embryos incubated, neural tubes of 41 were closed and the embryos displayed normal development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Levetiracetam, at a dose equivalent to human treatment dose and 10 times the treatment dose, was shown not to cause neural tube defects in chick embryos.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Nafiz Korez Sincan State Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yahya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guvenc
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalgic
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Billur
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karaoglu
authors.forename: Sevim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Ergun
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Daglioglu
authors.forename: Cagatay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozdol
authors.forename: Osman Arikan
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Nacar
authors.forename: Ali Erdem
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Belen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000633:toxicity*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D054259:Neural Tube / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology* / Q000473:pathology; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology; D010889:Piracetam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam